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Biggest vehicle-exporters from SA in November 2018...

For November 2018, Naamsa said South Africa’s export vehicle sales had “continued to record modest gains in line with industry expectations”, adding that “work stoppages and unprocedural industrial action at various manufacturing plants would have impacted on industry production and export numbers”.

The month’s aggregate export vehicle sales came in at 34 352 units, an improvement of 824 units or a substantial gain of 2,5% compared with the 28 233 vehicles exported in November 2017.

So, let’s take a look at which automakers were the biggest exporters from South Africa for the month.

Mercedes-Benz remained in first place, exporting 8 306 units (down 764, month on month) from its East London plant (8 296 of which were C-Class models). The Volkswagen Group, meanwhile, climbed one to second, exporting 7 952 examples (up 657 units) of its Polo hatchback from Uitenhage.

The BMW Group thus fell one to third, with its Rosslyn plant churning out 7 207 examples of the X3 for foreign markets, representing a fall of 189 units compared with October.

Ford, meanwhile, climbed one spot to fourth, shipping off 6 262 units (comprising 6 228 units of the Ranger and 34 of the Everest) from its Silverton facility in the month. This represents a substantial increase of 2 784 units, admittedly after a poor October.

Toyota dropped a place to fifth (likely thanks to the effects of strike action) with an export figure of 3 652, including 3 400 examples of its Hilux, 142 units of the Fortuner and 100 vehicles from its Corolla/Quest line (all built at its Prospecton factory), plus 10 examples of Hino trucks. This total is down 2 267 units on the Japanese firm’s effort in October.

Nissan improved by 38 units to 468 (made up of 437 Hardbody units and 31 NP200s) to remain in sixth, while Isuzu gained 71 units to total 396 (including 142 examples of the KB bakkie, 238 wearing the D-Max badge, seven units of the MU-X and nine trucks) to again take seventh.

Ryan has spent most of his career in online media, writing about everything from sport to politics and other forms of crime. But his true passion – reignited by a 1971 Austin Mini Mk3 still tucked lifeless in a dark corner of his garage – is of the automotive variety.